Mahoutsukai no Yome – 21

As we approach the end of this adaptation, it’s clear that certain themes are repeating themselves. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence – the traps which we lay for ourselves are a big part of this story, and while, the faerie creatures make a point of tut-tutting over how silly humans are to continually foster their own suffering, I don’t get the sense that the ones in this story are remotely immune from the same habits. As with Natsume Yuujinchou, this series is about what creatures from both sides of that divide share as much as what separates them.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say a miasma hangs over this episode in many ways, though for a time it seems both Chise and Elias are immune from it. The irony here is that it’s taken something as ominous as the dragon’s curse to show them both a resolve they didn’t know they possessed – Chise to do whatever she can to live on (with Elias), and for Elias something he cares enough about to pursue single-mindedly for its own sake. And that this crucial catalyst – and their mutual convictions – have sown the seeds of division between them and posed the greatest threat so far to their bond.

Lindel is sad because he must rely on Adolph to the point of exhausting him in the effort to bring the captured (and saved) dragon home. Adolph is sad because he’s unable to be more help, ultimately because he was unable to become what Lindel needed him to – a mage (possibly to replace him as caretaker, since Lindel is a prisoner as long as there are dragons left in the world). I thought the moment, minor as it seemed, when Lindel noted that Adolph’s regret and weariness had “turned him into a child” was tender and quietly powerful. And, of course, the whole episode with the witches’ coven is sad – because they can’t offer any advice to free Chise of her curse. In fact, the invitation by Mariel – and her entire interest in dragons – really amounted mostly to a scheme to try and help the leader of her coven be freed from her own curse.

Mind you, that event was not insignificant – because Mariel, in fact, does reveal to Elias the true path to saving Chise: “Only a life can be exchanged for a life”. It’s easy to cast blame on Elias and even Ruth for what happens next, and there’s no question it is a reminder of their essential nature. Ruth is a familiar – it is indeed his very nature that he will always prioritize his master over all else. And while we’ve seen humans in Mahoutsukai do terrible things to try and save the one they love (Matthew springs immediately to mind – and Joseph was meddling there, too) in Elias’ case we see that he’s something quite alien to what humans are. He’s not driven or bound by what might check our actions – as long as Chise lives, everything else is on the table.

The problem (among many) here is that Elias’ understanding of humans is still too incomplete. Chise could never accept him sacrificing any innocent, much less her friend, in order to save her. So, in effect, even if Elias’ plan works he’s depriving himself of being with Chise either way. While Elias’ desire to save her is genuine, I don’t think it can be separated from his desire to be with her – and thus, “success” would amount to failure for him. That’s not even factoring in that he’s also motivated by envy of Stella for the comfort level he perceives between the two of them. Elias is still very much a child in emotional terms, and his actions in this episode are a reflection of that.

Chise, as she so often does, finds her resolve in a conversation with Nevin – even if it is a Nevin she’s created an image of in her own consciousness, sort of an after-image (I’m not so sure). She shocks herself into wakefulness by stabbing herself in the thigh (she’s got real moxie, this one) and proceeds to try and foil Elias’ plan. The issue here is that it’s already been foiled, because Jospeh has revealed his hand – he’s been in possession of Stella since their “chance” meeting in London. And he wasn’t about to let Elias finish what he’d started.

Can what’s been broken here be healed, physically or spiritually, literally or metaphorically? Things are a bit of a mess, generally speaking – not only is Chise laboring under a death sentence, it’a hard to imagine her faith in Elias being easily restored after he’s committed what in her eyes is a grave and terrible act. Joseph offers her a deal once her nature reveals his presence in Stella – but a deal with Joseph is sure to come at a terrible price, based on what we know of that ageless creature.

As tragic as this story has been at times its still the one I look forward to on a weekly basis. God knows what I am gonna do for my must watch weekly anime flick once its over. another solid episode with a lot happening and a lot of emotions to boot. Guess, like Titans/Gangsta, I will have to start reading the manga from where this leaves off when its gone.

…Torrey is letting Elias see a book (a copy of the original) called, The Testament of Carnamagos, which is supposedly from Cthulhu Mythology(looked it up on Wikipedia). It contained spells that could conjure monsters or demons to perform tasks and then return them from whence they came (also from Wikipedia). Not sure, but I assume it was supposed to help Elias either force Stella’s life-force into Chise or just move the curse from Chise to Stella.

…Elias chooses Torrey since he feels Torrey would be easy to bribe. Torrey knows that if he was to ask for Chise as payment, he would find himself in an unmarked grave somewhere deep in the forest. He instead asks Elias to show him an example of magecraft, hence the scene where Elias uses the aerial’s magic to cut the paper into pieces. Torrey wants to know the actual difference between magecraft and sorcery and says he needs to see an example of magic up close for his research.

I’m sure that was confusing for a lot of people… Would make sense to include it but I guess it would’ve added another minute to the run-time and they probably couldn’t spare it without sacrificing something elsewhere.

When Elias asks him what his magic looked like, he replies that Elias looked like “Sleeping Beauty, slumbering in her castle amidst the thorns”. Maybe an observation that, where Elias was once opening himself to Chise and the world around him, he was now moving down a path that would alienate himself once again?

I think blaming Elias is entirely correct because he was motivated to use her specifically for one reason: jealously. He says as such. Ruth prioritizes Chise of course but he’s not doing it for something so petty.

Elias loves Chise but it’s a selfish love (and much like a child’s). His jealousy of Stella turns out to be deadly since he has no moral compass and he’s been shunned by both faerie and human as a monster. Not too dissimilar from Frankenstein’s Creature. He’ll do anything to keep the one person who has accepted him as he is. Including murder and lying to Chise. Having human emotions must be overwhelming to him, but that’s no excuse.

I just hope that there is not a tragic ending to this story. I’m too invested in these characters. It would just be too depressing.

The perhaps to give Elias an “moral compass” someone has to tell him or teach him.. If you do not know what to do, then ask yourself how would Chise react to this? Yes. He use Chise as an Moral compass for himself, until he gets it itself

That is also an hidden point to all parents out there. How will your child react in the same situation, will he use the experience of his parents, friends or TV Media and so on?… Be aware of your “power” and “duty”

then you done all right, but i saw parents that threat the children like adults since they can read and write and some treat them as “enemys”.. Sometimes the Parents are overwhelming with their position, and also there are the “care takers” ones we called them “Helikopter-eltern” (chopper parents)

Mmm, I’m kinda bummed that they reduced so many of the interesting scenes to animation with no dialogue in the second part of this show. It really takes some of the charm out of the series by reducing the world building and character moments. :\ That said, I can kinda understand why they’re doing it, assuming it’s because the studio wants to fit everything of the manga into the anime’s run time and have both end on the same note (IIRC, both the last episode and vol 9 of the manga are due to be released on March 24th).

I really have no idea what the endgame is here – I thought they might slow down a bit and end somewhere that made sense, but right now it’s almost unavoidable that we’re going to see some anime-original material in the final few episodes.

….what happened? What is WIT doing with this and KoiAme? Both shows suddenly very rapidly catching up to the current chapters of the manga. KoiAme I understand because the manga ends next chapter, so I assume we are going to get a complete ending.
But this…I really liked the chapters explaining how witches work in this world compared to mages and sorcerers. I guess they are trying to cover all that is available, then we are going to get some anime original ending, which I am okay with.

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